The South Lebanon conflict was an armed conflict that took place in Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 or 1985 until Israel's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, along with other Shia Muslim and left-wing guerrillas, fought against Israel and its ally, the Catholic Christian-dominated South Lebanon Army (SLA). The SLA was supported militarily and logistically by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and operated under the jurisdiction of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon provisional administration, which succeeded the earlier Israeli-backed Free Lebanon State. Israel officially names the conflict the Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign and deems it to have begun on 30 September 1982, after the end of its "Operation Peace for Galilee". It can also be seen as an extension of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and in 1982, to end the Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and support Lebanese Maronite Christians in the Lebanese Civil War. The 1982 invasion resulted in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leaving Lebanon and marked the beginning of Israeli occupation. Militant groups began attacking Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in September 1982. Amid rising casualties from guerrilla attacks, the IDF retreated south of the Awali river on 3 September 1983. The IDF began a phased withdrawal from Lebanon in February 1985. It withdrew to a "security zone" along the border on 29 April, and most IDF troops withdrew from the "security zone" on 10 June. A small number of IDF soldiers remained in the zone to support the SLA. Throughout its existence, there were about 1,500 IDF and 2,500 SLA troops in the "security zone" at any given time.
The occupation led to the creation of the Shia Islamist paramilitary group Hezbollah. It began waging a guerrilla war against the IDF and the SLA, with support from Iran and Syria. The IDF and the SLA engaged in counterinsurgency, but Israel had no long-term strategy. With Hezbollah increasingly targeting the Galilee with rockets, the official purpose of the Security Zone—to protect Israel's northern communities—seemed contradictory. Hezbollah also excelled at psychological warfare, often recording their attacks on Israeli troops. Israel launched two major operations in southern Lebanon during the 1990s: Operation Accountability in 1993 and Operation Grapes of Wrath in 1996. Following the 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster, the Israeli public began to seriously question whether the occupation of southern Lebanon was worth maintaining. The Four Mothers movement rose to the forefront of the public discourse, and played a leading role in swaying the public in favour of a complete withdrawal.
The Israeli government hoped that a withdrawal from the security zone could be carried out in the context of a wider agreement with Syria and, by extension, Lebanon. Talks with Syria failed. By 2000, following up on his promise during the 1999 Israeli general election, the new Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew Israeli forces from southern Lebanon on 25 May 2000, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 of 1978. Israel's withdrawal resulted in the immediate and total collapse of the SLA, with many of its members escaping to Israel. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah consider the withdrawal incomplete until Israel withdraws from Shebaa Farms. In 2020, Israel recognized the conflict as an IDF military campaign.
Background
Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed with United Nations mediation. The Lebanese–Israeli agreement created the armistice line, which coincided exactly with the existing international boundary between Lebanon and Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Syrian tripoint on the Hasbani River. From this tripoint on the Hasbani the boundary follows the river northward to the village of Ghajar, then northeast, forming the Lebanese–Syrian border. The southern line from the tripoint represents the Palestine–Syria border of 1923. Israeli forces captured and occupied 13 villages in Lebanese territory during the conflict, including parts of Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, and areas near the Litani River, but withdrew following international pressure and the armistice agreement.
Although the Israel–Lebanon border remained relatively quiet, entries in the diary of Moshe Sharett point to a continued territorial interest in the area. On 16 May 1954, during a joint meeting of senior officials of the defense and foreign affairs ministries, Ben Gurion raised the issue of Lebanon due to renewed tensions between Syria and Iraq, and internal trouble in Syria. Dayan expressed his enthusiastic support for entering Lebanon, occupying the necessary territory and creating a Christian regime that would ally itself with Israel. The issue was raised again in 1956 discussions at the Protocol of Sèvres.
The Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War vastly expanded their area occupied in all neighboring countries, with the exception of Lebanon. With the occupation of the Golan Heights, this extended the length of the effective Lebanon–Israel border. Although with a stated requirement for defense, later Israeli expansion into Lebanon under very similar terms followed the 1977 elections, which for the first time, brought the Revisionist Likud to power.
Emerging conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants
Beginning with the late 1960s and especially in the 1970s, following the defeat of the PLO in Black September in Jordan, displaced Palestinian militants affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization began to settle in South Lebanon. The unrestrained buildup of Palestinian militia, and the large autonomy they exercised, led to the popular term "Fatahland" for South Lebanon. Since the mid-1970s the tensions between the various Lebanese factions and Palestinians had exploded, resulting in Lebanese Civil War.
Following multiple attacks launched by Palestinian organizations in the 1970, which increased with the Lebanese Civil War, the Israeli government decided to take action. Desiring to break up and destroy this PLO stronghold, Israel briefly invaded Lebanon in 1978, but the results of this invasion were mixed. The PLO was pushed north of the Litani River. A buffer zone was created to keep them from returning, with the placement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
After earlier covert support, Israel established a second buffer with renegade Saad Haddad's Christian Free Lebanon Army enclave, initially based only in the towns of Marjayoun and Qlayaa. The now-public Israeli military commitment to the Christian forces was strengthened. For the first time, Israel received substantive adverse publicity in the world press due to damage in South Lebanon, in which some 200,000 Lebanese, mostly Shia Muslims, fled the area and ended up in the southern suburbs of Beirut. This indirectly resulted in the Syrian forces in Lebanon turning against the Christians in late June and complicated the dynamics of the ongoing Lebanese Civil War.
1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
In 1982, the Israeli military began "Operation Peace for Galilee", a full-scale invasion of Lebanese territory. The invasion followed the 1978 Litani Operation, which gave Israel possession of the territory near the Israeli–Lebanese border. This follow-up invasion attempted to weaken the PLO as a unified political and military force, and eventually led to the withdrawal of PLO and Syrian forces from Lebanon.
By the end of this operation, Israel had control over Lebanon from Beirut southward, and attempted to install a pro-Israeli government in Beirut to sign a peace accord with it. This goal was not realized, partly because of the assassination of President Bachir Gemayel in September 1982, and the refusal of the Lebanese Parliament to endorse the accord.
The withdrawal of the PLO forces in 1982 forced some Lebanese nationalists to start a resistance against the Israeli army, led by the Lebanese Communist Party and the Amal movement. During this time, some Amal members started the formation of an Islamic group supported by Iran, that was the nucleus of the future "Islamic Resistance" that resulted in the creation of Hezbollah.
Chronology
1982–1985 occupation and emergence of Hezbollah
Increased hostilities against the US resulted in the April 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut. In response, the US brokered the May 17 Agreement, in an attempt to stall hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. This agreement eventually failed to take shape, and hostilities continued. In October, the United States Marines barracks in Beirut was bombed, usually attributed to the Islamic Resistance groups. Following this incident, the United States withdrew its military forces from Lebanon.
Suicide bombings became increasingly popular at this time, and were a major concern of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) both near Beirut and in the South. Among the most serious were the two suicide bombings against the Israeli headquarters in Tyre, which killed 103 soldiers, border policemen, and Shin Bet agents, and killed 49–56 Lebanese. Israel believes those acts were among the first organized actions made by Shi'ite militants, later forming into Hezbollah. Subsequently, Israel withdrew from the Shouf Mountains, but continued to occupy Lebanon south of the Awali River.
An increased number of Islamic militias began operating in South Lebanon, launching guerrilla attacks on Israeli and pro-Israel militia positions. Israeli forces often responded with increased security measures and airstrikes on militant positions. Casualties on all sides steadily climbed. In a vacuum left with the eradication of PLO, the disorganized Islamic militants in South Lebanon began to consolidate.
The emerging Hezbollah, soon to become the preeminent Islamic militia, evolved during this period. Scholars disagree as to when Hezbollah came to be regarded as a distinct entity. Over time, a number of Shi’a group members were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as Islamic Jihad members, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, and the Revolutionary Justice Organization.
Israeli withdrawal to southern Lebanon (1985)
On 16 February 1985, Israel withdrew from Sidon and turned it over to the Lebanese Army. 15 Israelis were killed and 105 wounded during the withdrawal. Dozens of SLA members were also assassinated. Under the Iron Fist policy, Israel retaliated in a series of raids. On March 11, Israeli forces raided the town of Zrariyah, killing 40 men.
On March 10, a suicide bomber killed twelve Israeli soldiers from a convoy near Metula, inside Israel. From mid-February to mid-March, the Israelis lost 18 dead and 35 wounded. On 9 April, a Shiite girl drove a car bomb into an IDF convoy. The next day, a soldier was killed by a land mine. During the same period, Israeli forces killed 80 Lebanese guerrillas in five weeks. Another 1,800 Shi'as were taken as prisoners. Israel withdrew from the Bekaa valley on 24 April, and from Tyre on the 29th, but continued to occupy a security zone in Southern Lebanon.
On April 9, a female suicide bomber named Sana'a Mehaidli from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party blew herself up in Jezzine, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring ten others.
Beginning of the Security Zone conflict (1985–1989)
In 1985, Hezbollah released an open letter to "The Downtrodden in Lebanon and in the World", which stated that the world was divided between the oppressed and the oppressors. The oppressors were named to be mainly the United States and Israel. This letter legitimized and praised the use of violence against the enemies of Islam, mainly the West.
Israeli and SLA forces in the security zone began to come under attack. The first major incident occurred in August 1985, when Lebanese guerrillas believed to have been from Amal ambushed an Israeli convoy: two Israeli soldiers and three of the attackers were killed in the ensuing firefight.
Lebanese guerrilla attacks increased, mainly the work of Hezbollah. Fighting the Israeli occupation included hit-and-run guerrilla attacks, suicide bombings, and the Katyusha rocket attacks on civilian targets in Northern Israel, including Kiryat Shmona. The Katyusha proved to be an effective weapon and became a mainstay of Hezbollah military capabilities in South Lebanon. The attacks resulted in both military and civilian casualties.
A considerable number of Lebanese guerrillas were killed fighting Israeli and SLA troops, and many were captured. Prisoners were often detained in Israeli military prisons, or by the SLA in the Khiam detention center, where detainees were often tortured. Lebanese prisoners in Israel were arrested and detained for participating in guerrilla movements, and many were held for long periods of time.
In 1987, Hezbollah fighters from the Islamic Resistance stormed and conquered an outpost in Bra'shit belonging to the South Lebanon Army in the security zone. A number of its defenders were killed or taken prisoner, and the Hezbollah flag was raised on top of it. A Sherman tank was blown up and a M113 armored personnel carrier was captured and driven triumphantly all the way to Beirut. In September 1987, Israeli aircraft bombed three PLO bases on the outskirts of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, killing up to 41 people. An Israeli spokesman said the targets were being used by terrorist cells that were planning raids against Israel.
On 2 January 1988, Israeli airstrikes on Ain al-Hilweh and along the coast North of Sidon left 19 dead and 14 wounded. Three members of the PFLP-GC and three from the PSP were amongst those killed. Seven children and one woman were also killed. It was reported that the raids were retaliation for the 25 November 1987 PFLP-GC hang-glider attack in which six IDF soldiers were killed. In the previous two years there had been about forty Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.
In May 1988, Israel launched an offensive codenamed Operation Law and Order in which 1,500–2,000 Israeli soldiers raided the area around the Lebanese village of Meidoun. In two days of fighting, the IDF killed 50 Hizbullah fighters while losing 3 dead and 17 wounded.
On 18 October 1988, eight Israeli soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah suicide car bomb. The Israelis responded with extensive air and land attacks.
After Israel destroyed Hezbollah's headquarters in the town of Marrakeh, a Hezbollah suicide bomber destroyed an Israeli transport truck carrying soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border. In response, Israeli forces ambushed two Hezbollah vehicles, killing eight Hezbollah fighters.
On 27 July 1989, the Hezbollah leader in South Lebanon, Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid and two of his aides, were abducted from his home in Jibchit, by IDF commandos. The night-time raid was planned by then Minister of Defence Yitzhak Rabin. Hizbullah responded by announcing the execution of Colonel Higgins, a senior American officer working with UNIFIL, who had been kidnapped in February 1988. The Obeid kidnapping led to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 638, which condemned all hostage takings by all sides.